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An UrbanDaddy Publication

06/11/2014

The Kempt Five

Najib Benouar

Nathan Wahl

Ricky McCrumb

Sam Eichner

Every Wednesday we’re giving you a deeper look into what makes the minds behind Kempt tick. We call it: The Kempt Five.

The Summer of the Short-Sleeve Popover. “Between this recently surfaced photo of Ryan Gosling at the airport, and the oxford cloth number I just picked up, I think it’s safe to declare that this is going to be the Summer of the Short-Sleeve Popover. Make like Gosling and roll the sleeves a little—and tuck it in while you’re at it.” —N.B.

The Game Before the Game. “The World Cup finally kicks off tomorrow in São Paulo. And the one ad that managed to best convey the gravitas of this quadrennial event comes from an unlikely source: Beats (by Apple?). Starring the Brazilian phenom Neymar, spectacular footage of the country, a who’s who of soccer elite, some other famous people and at least one woman in the throes of passion. If this doesn’t get you excited for the next month, nothing will. So get excited.” —N.B.

That 90-Minute Episode of Louie. “Just when you started to think Louis C.K. couldn’t push the boundaries of television any further (a freak tickling accident with an astronaut’s beautiful daughter? An out-of-the-blue hurricane? A gallingly disorienting affair with a Ukrainian violinist?), the comedian-turned-auteur comes out with an hour-and-a-half-long meditation on the interplay between drugs, parenting and growing up. Told almost entirely in a flashback to Louie’s youth, the episode features Jeremy Renner as a volatile drug dealer with a soft spot for his cat’s ocular issues; F. Murray Abraham as his absentee father; and a scene-stealing Skipp Sudduth as his sweaty, bustling science teacher (the role was originally meant to be played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, to whom the episode was dedicated). Like all of C.K.’s work, it’s a delicate balance of subtle irony, unexpected poignancy, fear and an idiosyncratic sense of the surreal that makes the world of his show, and the feelings experienced therein, all the more authentic.” —S.E.

Ol’-Fashioned Putting Your Phone Away. “I spend a lot of my day looking at a screen. That prompted me to try this totally vintage thing called ‘putting my phone away.’ (It’s kind of like the phone stack, but you’re alone. And you still end up footing the bill.) Turns out, there’s a lot going on. I watched a bird pull a worm out of the ground. Not on a cartoon, but in real life. In New York fucking City. I still haven’t seen any anthropomorphic bunnies, but if I put my phone away for long enough...” —N.W.

The Dumb and Dumber To Trailer/ “The antithesis to all of the childhood memories that have recently been taken to the big screen and put out of their misery (lookin’ at you, Mr. Bay). The long-awaited sequel—we’re not counting that last one—finally has a trailer and a release date. And to be honest, I’d be cool with a word-for-word reshoot with the two slightly less youthful stars. But this looks amazing. Here’s hoping Petey can somehow make a cameo.” —R.M.